Blake has been playing well these last few games, and I love the toughness he displays on the court. Has his shot been off? Yes, but if we want to discuss his shooting (and he doesn't take too many shots anyway), Fish is also fair game.

FIsh starting is PART of the problem. Blake backing him up is the another part of the problem.

The Lakers have been getting schooled at PG and both PGs on this team are worthless. You can love Fish or Blake for whatever reason...numbers still prove they are getting out-played on a regular basis.

"It is not how big you are, it is how big you play""Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it""Be strong in body, clean in mind, lofty in ideals"

Well, if we had a real starter, the problem would not be so obvious, and Blake would be a serviceable backup. No one would probably even notice him... he would get some minutes, run the offense quietly and that's it. However, Fish starting has been a problem for a while now.

"It's not realistic to get younger and better when you only have the veteran's minimum to offer free agents."

^actually I would rather have Fish as a backup than Blake. So there goes the argument.

Of course the problem is Fish starting...but if we had a starter, then I would rather have Fisher as his backup. His leadership and clutch ability make him the better backup to me, by far. Also Fisher is an aggressive player who comes in and actually does something, even if its usually stupid.

Blake comes in and does...hmmm...nothing.

"It is not how big you are, it is how big you play""Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it""Be strong in body, clean in mind, lofty in ideals"

^I agree. Fish would be a decent backup PG. If Fish is still around next season (and I have a feeling he will be), we should try to get a PG who could start for us in the off-season. (Actually, we should do that regardless of whether he comes back or not. )

Here's the thing: yes, Fish would be a good backup. And if he was a bench player, that would mean we already had a good starting PG. Ergo, this thread would not even exist. Blake was brought in to be a bench player. So, this problem was created long time ago, because of our inability to sign someone like, say, Kirk to start @ the 1.

None of which is Blake's fault.

"It's not realistic to get younger and better when you only have the veteran's minimum to offer free agents."

You all have it pretty wrong. Blake was brought in to replace Derek in a season or two and be a solid starting PG for this team. Anyone who thinks he couldn't be a very good starter for this team is seriously wrong. Blake is a very solid starter. He's a better passer than Derek, he's quicker and more athletic, and he's a better defender. He's also fairly clutch.

Everyone is so quick to judge Blake, but he's not really in any position to do much better than he's done. And the one and only thing anyone can have a problem with in Blake is his shooting. That's it. He's been a solid defender and his energy is there.

Once Fish moves to the bench some time next season, you'll all see that Blake is a solid player. It's easy to hate on what he's done now, but in any situation where he's played starter type minutes, he's done well. Give him that starting spot and all of you change your attitudes about him.

Let the Lakers draft a young PG and groom him to replace Steve, but right now Steve is the best fit finincially and realistically for this team.

Right now I think Fisher coasting through the regular season (something he has to do to be prepared for the post season) is an issue. The Lakers can't really play to their potential when you have so many guys (Kobe, Gasol, Artest apparently, etc) saving themselves for the playoffs.

I really liked last night's plan with the PG situation : let Fisher come out aggressive and energetic and then let Blake come in and be the true PG. I really liked it. Blake was effective and Fisher got the team going to start the game. I'm not saying that's going to be Fish's primary purpose going forward, just that he can be spark plug because of his energy and that'll make the team better.

That would be terrific actually... if only Derek was able to always (OK, most of the time) be so successful at chucking the ball. I'd love to see that. Because, essentially, Fish is an undersized SG. He was never a PG. He even played @ 2 for the Jazz. Now that I think about it... even Phil plays him @ 2 when him and Blake are on the court together. It rarely happens but... yeah.

"It's not realistic to get younger and better when you only have the veteran's minimum to offer free agents."

That would be terrific actually... if only Derek was able to always (OK, most of the time) be so successful at chucking the ball. I'd love to see that. Because, essentially, Fish is an undersized SG. He was never a PG. He even played @ 2 for the Jazz.

Yeah, but that's fine for the Lakers because of the Triangle. He doesn't really have to be a PG for this team, just a guy who can hit outside shots (he's shooting 40.2% from deep this season) and make post entry passes. He's a little shaker on the passes, but he tries.

I think it'd be great if he just decided to be the energy guy because it'd make his transition to the bench easier and technically it could mean he'd log less minutes. Remember when we all thought he'd play less minutes this season? He's actually playing a few seconds more than last season. There's no real reason for that. Blake should be eating those minutes.

nameant wrote:Steve's defense looked great last night. He seemed more aggressive/physical than normal. I dunno if he's just turning it up a gear or he wanted to be extra aggressive against his old team.

I thought he was energetic on defense but otherwise his usual transparent self on offense. Blake passes up a lot of open shots that he should to take because it disrupts the offense when he doesn't. When he passes up a shot it leads up to someone getting hit for a three second count, or having to take a desperation shot. I understand Blake is not a scoring type guard, but he needs to be aggressive when the situation presents itself. They need his perimeter shooting and some quick penetration play making from him, otherwise his man will roam around and double on others. I don't remember Blake being this passive when he played for Portland, he used to kill us. What's happened to his game? Why isn't Phil bringing this to his attention? Does he want him out there to pass the ball around and play some defense? Imho that's a waste of Blake if it's true. Hopefully when Barnes comes back Blake becomes a little more aggressive. If he doesn't I think the Lakers can do better in the off season.

I think his defensive energy has been there all year. His shooting has been pretty bad, but he takes like 1 - 2 shots per game. Tough to get in a rhythm like that. Once you have a couple bad games, it's easy to get in a funk and start doubting.

Look at Kobe last night. Started 2 - 10. That's a week for Blake. Kobe was able to keep shooting and get hot and lead us to the W. I'm not saying Blake is Kobe, but when you miss your one and only shot, it's not difficult to lose faith in your shot.

nameant wrote:Yeah, I really wish Blake would shoot more. He used to always torch us.

could not agree more!! He use to average 15 points against us! Last year he has a triple double, he's defense has been GREAT but yea his offense is almost strange, he simply won't shoot, sometimes he won't even take more than one shot per game!!! Hell if you miss we can live with it but shoot DA BALL!!!